Residents of a Bao’an District housing estate are worried that their homes could have been built with concrete made from erosive sea sand because huge sections of walls have been peeling off lately, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

Twelve eight-story buildings in the Chuangyeyicun housing estate in Xin’an Subdistrict have been reported as problematic. They were built by Bao’an District Housing Bureau in 2000 and residents moved into the estate in 2002. An employee of the estate’s property management firm, surnamed Ou, said the surface of some buildings began to inflate and peel off from walls half a year ago. “Almost every building has such problems but five buildings have shown especially strong signs,” Ou said. Chuangyeyicun residents’ concern drew attention from Bao’an District Government. On March 19, officials from the housing bureau and construction bureau collected three concrete samples from the estate for inspections by the Shenzhen Construction Testing Center. An investigation report released Monday (March 25) said materials used in the buildings met national standards.Related Article